Turbolaser Calc Dump

Orbital Shipyard CC-24's Destruction​

This comes from Lando Parts I and II, which were released July 8, 2015 and August 12, 2015 respectively.

So this space station, Orbital Shipyard CC-24 was destroyed by three Turbolaser bolts. So first we must measure how big it is. There is one scan which gives a good framed shot of how large the station is compared to something measurable.

We first must get the size of a yacht which scales to the station. We can use this panel

I measured the pixel size of the ship and the piece of the shipyard I am comparing (The cylindrical part) preemptively.

This ship, a yacht, is 406x107 pixels, or 419.8631 pixels

And the cylindrical part of the station is 67x306 pixels, or 313.2491 pixels

Now we can get the size of the yacht from this image here

The star destroyer, which is 1600 meters, is 292x581 pixels, or 650.25 pixels

The yacht is 54x80 pixels, or 96.519428 pixels, and if 1600 meters = 650.25 pixels, then 96.519428 pixels would equal 237.49494 meters.

Now going back to the image earlier, the ship was 419.8631 pixels which equals 237.49494 meters and the cylindrical part was 313.2491 pixels which would equal 177.188889 meters

In this image that cylindrical part is 15x75 pixels, or 76.4852927 pixels, which would equal 177.188889 meters. One of the “spokes” on the “wheel” in the structure is 108x22 pixels, or 255.3353493 meters. So given that, now we can go back to the explosion.

The Beam is 22x89 pixels, or 91.6787871 pixels, which we established as 255.3353493 meters

Explosion is 265 pixels, which would pixel scale to 738.0536949 meters, meaning the radius 369.02684745 meters

This explosion is more rounded so I will use fireball as a high end

https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

  • 5 psi overpressure (Low End) = 520 tons of tnt
  • 20 psi overpressure (Middle End) = 5 kilotons of tnt
  • Fireball (High End) = 46 kilotons of tnt
But also, 3 turbolasers fired to do this, so divide by three:

  • 5 psi overpressure (Low End) = 173.333 tons of tnt
  • 20 psi overpressure (Middle End) = 1.6667 kilotons of tnt
  • Fireball (High End) = 15.333 kilotons of tnt
Personally I think this calculation is partially unusable because there is the variable of the space-station itself blowing up adding to the explosion which throws a wrench into the analysis

Shaking Kashyyyk​

This is from Aftermath: Life Debt (July 12, 2016):

Everything shakes and rumbles. Kashyyyk is caught in the throes of tectonic spasms.

~ Aftermath: Life Debt

Here is the full scan

And here is the orignal calculation

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/U...r_destroyer_profile_updates#Proposed_upgrades

So in this blog, Soldier Blue uses a magnitude rating of 6 for the earthquake, as per this discussion:

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:2560718

The problem comes that they assume everyone is experiencing magnitude 6 quakes at all points of the planet, which is not true as seen from this scan.

So going by this, the earthquakes were just light rumbles from a distance. As a lowball, I will assume it was around 500 kilometers away. As a mid end I will assume maybe about 1/10 the circumference of the planet, or 4,010.243 km. At a high end I will assume they were literally on the other side of the planet. The half circumference of Kashyyyk is 20,051.215 kilometers.

I should preemptively note that this took time, maybe hours. Given that, it is likely unquantifiable. Furthermore, too high of a magnitude would not make sense, as Kashyyyk was fully habitable even after the Empire’s bombardment, and I highly doubt the ISDs just stood in one position causing shockwaves across the planet, and it would make more sense if they moved around the planet to tactically glass it. So this is a massive highball, and I dislike that the original calculation is assuming they literally did it with one barrage at one point. It just doesn’t make sense and it contradicts the story. Furthermore, as per the original calculation, Kashyyyk endured over a petaton of TNT from the bombardment. That would make it 10 times more powerful than the Chicxulub Impact and would leave Kashyyyk a barren traumatized planet not too different than Earth after the Permian and Cretacous extinction events, and I don’t buy Kashyyyk endured that much devastation because Chewbaca is seen living a comfortable life on Kashyyyk only a few years after this bombardment happened. This is not simply an outlier in terms of feats, this feat doesn’t logically make sense given how the plot goes if we actually buy that calculation.

The original calculation assumed a uniform mercalli/richter 6 rating, but from a distance it seems to be about an IV on the Mercalli index, or Richter Magnitude 4 at a distance. I now use this formula:

(Magnitude at distance) + 6.399 + 1.66*log10((r/110)*((2*π)/360))

  • Low End: (4) + 1.1644 + 0.0048*500 = 7.5644
  • Mid End: 4 + 6.399 + 1.66×log((4,010.243/110)×((2×π)/360)) = 10.0730679173
  • High End: 4 + 6.399 + 1.66×log((20051.215/110)×((2×π)/360)) = 11.2333581245

Next I need to use the formula:

10^(1.5*(Richter Magnitude)+4.8)

  • Low End: 10^(1.5*(7.5644)+4.8) = 3.3497186 megatons of tnt
  • Mid End: 10^(1.5*(10.0730679173)+4.8) = 19.4093146 gigatons of tnt
  • High End: 10^(1.5*(11.2333581245)+4.8) = 1.06769083 teratons of tnt
This is the total energy released to cause an earthquake

However this was a barrage over time and it was 3 ISDs, so I will first estimate how many shots were in for a barrage

As Soldier Blue used in his calculation:

The Imperial I-class boasts of the following heavy armaments:

60 XX-9 heavy turbolasers

2 quad heavy turbolsers

6 dual heavy turbolasers

In the upgraded Imperial I-class and Imperial II-class, those 6 dual heavy main turrets would be replaced with eight octuple barbette batteries.

Therefore, the total number of HTL barrels we’re looking at is:

= (60*2) + (2*8) + (8*8) = 200

So we will need to divide the final yield by this number, and then divide by 3

  • Low End: 3.3497186 megatons of tnt/600 = 5.58286433 kilotons of tnt
  • Mid End: 19.4093146 gigatons of tnt/600 = 32.3488577 megatons of tnt
  • High End: 1.06769083 teratons of tnt/600 = 1.77948472 gigatons of tnt
Now, unless the novel actually says the characters were halfway across the planet, I won't assume it's the high end. I am going to play it safe and assume the Mid End here

Even then I likely highballed the number of turbolaser blasts, for all we know they could have fired thousands.

Turbolasers “Slagging” Cities​

Hazram Namir, the main protagonist of Battlefront: Twilight Company (November 3, 2015), has witnessed an ISD slag a city:

A fleet of Star Destroyers? Namir had seen the massive ships before - great, wedge-shaped dreadnoughts that dwarfed the Thunderstrike - but never more than one at a time. He'd witnessed a single Star Destroyer bombard a city into a crater of steaming sludge; seen skyscrapers melt and stone burn. One Star Destroyer had been reason enough for Twilight to abandon a planet.

Hazram Namir, who comes from an underdeveloped Outer Rim planet, begins to grasp the true scale of the galaxy and the war he's now part of and recalls the city melting weapons of star destroyers:

Private Hazram Namir had been in his bunk disassembling and reassembling a DLT-20A blaster rifle when word about Alderaan came down. It hadn't meant anything to him. Only the fact that Howl had announced it over the Thunderstrike's intercom indicated the planet's destruction was anything out of the ordinary. In the two months since Namir had joined Twilight Company, he'd seen weaponry that could melt gleaming cities into slag, fought beside more species than he could name, heard stories of a Galactic Empire that held millions of stars in its grip. If he'd been told that planets were a common casualty of war, he'd have believed it without a second thought.

I should note that this is from a bombardment, so this is not just one shot. I will assume the number of blasts is the number of guns on an Imperial Star Destroyer

The Imperial I-class boasts of the following heavy armaments:

60 XX-9 heavy turbolasers

2 quad heavy turbolsers

6 dual heavy turbolasers

In the upgraded Imperial I-class and Imperial II-class, those 6 dual heavy main turrets would be replaced with eight octuple barbette batteries.

Therefore, the total number of HTL barrels we’re looking at is:

= (60*2) + (2*8) + (8*8) = 200

These are outer rim cities, I don't know if they will be as large as megapolises or ecumenopolises in inner planets, so I will assume a city as large as Beijing, or 16,411 km^2

What I will assume is each turbolaser is large enough to create a fireball that, when fired strategically in a barrage, covers the entirety of the area.

200 turbolaser shots assumed in a barrage; 16,411 km^2/200 = 82.055 km^2


to have that area, I get about 33.35 megatons of tnt

As a high end, let me assume the urban area of New York City, or 34,493 km^2

34,493 km^2/200 = 172.465 km^2

I get 84.50 megatons of tnt

So about 33.35-84.50 megatons of tnt assuming its a single barrage of all the weapons at once, it might be lower because the time frame isn't given and it could actually be thousands of shots, but it also could be higher because the total area could be higher. I think this is a good liberal estimate however.

Creating Tsunamis​

Through the viewport, Eli watched the sky light up as the brilliant green bolts hammered their way toward the planet below.

But not to the island itself. As Admiral Durril and the Judicator had so painfully demonstrated, the insurgents' defenses were more than adequate to fend off any orbital attack.

But Scrim was an island...and the ocean immediately off its shore was not under the protection of that shield.

"Direct hit on Target One coordinates," a voice came from one of the 96th's two frigates, flying high observation over the battle zone. "Water crater - implosion-waves heading outward-"

"Impact!" a voice shouted from the second frigate. "Tsunami-scale wave has slammed into the western shoreline."

"Target Two: Fire," Thrawn ordered. "Damage at Target One?"

"Unclear, Admiral," the second frigate's observer said. The man was trying to stay calm and professional, but Eli could hear the awe creeping into his voice. "But the tsunami made a direct hit on the western ion cannon emplacement."

"Report on Target Two," the first frigate's observer cut in. "Turbolaser emplacement also hit. Looks even more swamped than Target One - the ground must be level or even bowl-shaped there."

"Alternate fire," Thrawn said. "Targets One and Two."

"Shield retracting," the Flensor reported. "Turbolaser clear to fire-"

"Second tsunami has hit Target Two," the first observer called.

"Second tsunami on Target One," the second added. "Western ion cannon is awash. Turbolaser-" He broke off. "Explosion at turbolaser emplacement, Admiral. Looks like the water shorted the capacitors. I'd say the weapon is out of action."

"Comm, open transmission," Thrawn ordered. "Scrim Island, this is Admiral Thrawn aboard the ISD Chimaera. Lower your shield and surrender, or we will continue to inundate your heavy weapons and shore defenses until they have been destroyed and those operating them killed. Repeat: Lower your shield and surrender or be destroyed."

There was no response. "Do we continue firing, Admiral?" Faro asked.
"Alternate fire between Targets One and Three," Thrawn said. "Alert the assault boats for imminent action."

Another burst of turbolaser fire sizzled from the Chimaera into the now seething ocean. "Tsunamis on Targets One and Three," the first observer reported. "Looks like a fire has started in the area around Target Two."

~Star Wars: Thrawn (April 11, 2017)

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